The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 325

325. Maybe a Fluke? (6)

-Hoo…

A change of offense and defense.

Tanner Houck simply suppressed this unreasonable unfairness with a light breath.

Only twenty years old.

A super rookie who, upon debuting in the major leagues, immediately became Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month, setting records left and right, and finally broke the 57-game hitting streak record today.

Even the way it happened felt like the universe was saying, ‘You *must* break the record today! Go all out!!!’ with a home run that inexplicably hit the Pesky Pole [a short right-field foul pole at Fenway Park]? It’s absurd.

But Tanner Houck didn’t get angry.

The world is inherently unfair. Sometimes it’s cruelly so. And strictly speaking, Tanner Houck himself is one of those who has benefited from such unfairness. The major league is such a place.

Top of the 7th inning.

The Yankees’ attack starts with the 8th batter, Troy Johnston.

‘If we strike out three batters in a row like this…’

It won’t be Choi Su-won’s turn.

Tanner Houck shook his head, having that thought without realizing it. He’s only facing the 8th batter, yet he’s worrying about a batter who might not even face him today.

I’ll say it again, that guy is a really absurd batter.

Was this how the pitchers who played with the monsters who destroyed the league in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, represented by Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds, felt?

Let’s focus on the batter in front of me for now.

Tanner Houck threw the ball.

Low and outside. It was a fastball.

-Clang!!

A ball completely out of the foul line.

Ball count 0-1.

Second.

Similar location.

But a ball that clearly goes out.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!”

Ball count 0-2.

Third.

At this rate, I’ll be able to face Choi Su-won without any problems…

-Tap!!!

A weak ground ball rolling along the first base foul line. First baseman Triston Casas quickly ran out to catch the ball. Tanner Houck also ran to first base without delay. But unfortunately, Troy Johnston’s feet were a little faster.

“Safe!!!!”

The slightly hot weather in late June.

Tanner Houck’s sweat-soaked face momentarily tightened.

Following is number 9.

Jose Trevino.

Currently batting average 0.195.

In fact, he’s a batter you don’t even need to pay attention to.

-Whoosh!!!

But I had to pay attention.

Not to Jose Trevino at the plate, but to Troy Johnston standing on first base.

[Troy Johnston!! Runs!! Fantastic timing!!]

“Safe!!”

[Stolen base successful!! Top of the 7th, no outs. Troy Johnston steals second base and gets into scoring position.]

[Wow, in this case, Tanner Houck can’t help but feel a lot of pressure. As you all know, Fenway Park is a stadium where home runs don’t come out very often, but doubles and triples come out quite often. This is a situation where an extra run is guaranteed with just one long hit.]

-Clang!!!

[Ah, the moment we speak, Jose Trevino hits a deep fly ball!! But it doesn’t escape left fielder Masataka Yoshida’s glove and he’s out!! Now Anthony Volpe is at the plate.]

[Anthony Volpe is showing a fairly good performance as in previous years. This season, he’s been a great help to our Choi Su-won’s RBIs [Runs Batted In].]

[I know that the All-Star Game voting is also very close. I think the results of this game will have a significant impact on the voting.]

[That’s right. Frankly, those popularity votes are bound to be influenced if the team does well. Besides, Choi Su-won set a record in today’s nationally broadcast game that will go down in history, didn’t he? This will have a huge impact on people. In such a game, he consistently connects the attack in front of Choi Su-won? The image that gives people can never be ignored.]

[Conversely, does that also mean that if you show a play that cuts off the attack here, the image will be greatly damaged? Wouldn’t that be a lot of pressure?]

[Ah, yes. If you think negatively, you can see it that way. But Anthony Volpe has been hearing that he is the next Yankees franchise for several years and has overcome that great expectation. He is a player who can overcome that kind of pressure. Maybe he’s the type who can’t even think of such negative thoughts at all.]

‘Damn it.’

Anthony Volpe felt tremendous pressure.

According to what I checked this morning, in the final vote, he was currently at 1,210,000 votes, a whopping 360,000 votes short of Wander Franco’s 1,570,000 votes.

But today’s game was broadcast nationwide, and considering the performance Choi Su-won is showing now, the viewership rating will not be low. Maybe it’s recording the highest number of viewers this year.

Since Boston Red Sox fans have already voted for Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco, what he expects is that fans from other teams who watched today’s game will vote for him. And for that, every at-bat was important.

One out, runner on second base.

Unlike Juan Montero, who occasionally looked at Choi Su-won in the waiting seat yesterday, Tanner Houck didn’t even glance in that direction. But he can’t help but be *nervous* about the batter who hit a home run in the previous at-bat.

A purebred Yankees franchise born and raised in New Jersey. Anthony Volpe, the successor to Derek Jeter.

Pressure was like a very familiar friend to him.

He watched the first pitch

Touched the second

And watched the third again.

The fourth and fifth.

The ball count is 2-2.

Sixth.

The ball that left Tanner Houck’s hand drew a fantastic trajectory and went out of the zone.

-Poof!!!

Slider.

Anthony Volpe picked out the decisive ball thrown by Tanner Houck.

Now 3-2 full count.

A strong pressure that tightens the heart.

In it, Anthony Volpe pushed his concentration to the limit.

Tanner Houck moved.

Inside.

And Anthony Volpe’s bat properly pulled the ball.

A ball that stretched out towards the right fence.

It was a double that hit the Green Monster [the left field wall at Fenway Park] directly.

3:0.

And runner on second base.

The game continued.

***

It was quite hot during the day, but as the sun set and some time passed, it was quite chilly. It wasn’t enough to make my hands chapped, but the weather was such that my body could get cold if the attack was prolonged.

Yeah, so this is, after all, a kind of retreat for the sake of advancing, to concentrate on pitching… Ugh. Yeah. To be honest, I was fooled by the slider again.

“Anthony. How did you notice that slider? Do you have any tips?”

“No, I just felt like it was the timing to throw a slider based on the count. I thought, ‘Is it a slider?’ and when I looked, it seemed like a slider. But it’s just a feeling, so I might have been lucky.”

I asked Anthony, who stepped on the home plate after Tyler Wade’s hit following me, for tips on distinguishing his slider, but there was no answer. He just guessed and was lucky.

-Clang!!!

Aaron Judge, who seemed to be in great hitting condition today, pulled the ball that came into his body on the third pitch. But the angle of the ball was too high. Masataka Yoshida lightly snatched the ball.

[Fly ball out!! Top of the 7th. The Yankees’ attack, which was a bit long, ends like this. The New York Yankees succeeded in adding 2 points with a well-organized attack. The score is now 4:0.]

[After Choi Su-won opened the scoring with a solo home run, you can feel that Tanner Houck, who was like an iron wall today, is gradually cracking. He already has a considerable number of pitches, 107.]

[Yes, I think this inning was probably Tanner Houck’s last inning of today’s game. Bottom of the 7th. Choi Su-won is on the mound. He currently has 86 pitches. It’s not a lot of pitches, but considering the flow of today’s game, it’s a slightly disappointing number.]

[What was the most Choi Su-won threw this season?]

[The most was 117 in the complete game victory against Tampa Bay last time. I remember that he showed a lot of physical difficulty at the end of the game at that time, but I wonder how it will be today…]

[Now, number 1 hitter Alex Verdugo is at the plate. Third at-bat in today’s game!!]

Top of the 7th inning.

From Alex Verdugo to Trevor Story. And the Boston’s upper batting order leading to Rafael Devers. In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that it was the last crisis of today’s game.

Especially Alex Verdugo and Trevor Story.

Those two, who Boston fans are always complaining about not being worth the money and telling them to do something about it, are very *difficult* for me. Was it a combined $45 million this year? Frankly, objectively, they are not worth the money, but since $45 million is such a large amount, even if they perform half of that amount, they are one of the top leadoff combos in the league. And those two are still doing about 70% of the money’s worth.

-Clang!!!

Already the 6th pitch.

Alex Verdugo picked out the ball with the determination to succeed in getting on base. He fiddled with the ball a couple of times. A little while ago, the drop of the ball was much less than I wanted. It’s evidence that my grip is starting to weaken.

That flashed through my head.

It’s ironic that you shouldn’t give up a walk to do that. And the other person knows that too. That’s why it’s hard to set a record.

The ball count is 3-2.

Full count.

It was time to make a choice.

‘Ah, I don’t know.’

Anyway, I’m only twenty years old now.

Real twenty-year-olds don’t know how young they are. They don’t know how long the future is. So they are always impatient. They are always impatient as if they can’t do it today, there will never be another chance.

But I know.

Life is long and opportunities come again.

There’s no need to ruin things by being obsessed with it.

Let’s admit it.

I’m lacking now.

If I have a third pitch installed here and my body is completed enough to always throw at least 7 innings, it’s not too late to try again then.

Seventh.

I shook my head at the sign Jose Trevino sent and sent a sign from my side.

He opened his eyes wide and asked me again.

‘Wait a minute. Swan? Are you going to throw that now?’

‘Uh huh.’

He usually respects the pitcher’s opinion, but this time he had a hard time accepting it, so he asked me again.

‘Are you really okay?’

Ah, of course, I didn’t really exchange these words with a sign. It just means that he recommended me to throw a different ball than the sign I sent. I shook my head.

[Choi Su-won, in the case of our player, is famous for his fast pitching tempo since he was playing in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization], but this time he is hesitating a bit.]

[Yes, because the stakes are so high now.]

[Ah, the pitcher is going into the windup. The 7th pitch!!]

High course.

It went in a little lower than I was aiming for, so it was a really good position to hit. So Alex Verdugo might think that I just shoved a ball into the zone, trusting the fielders behind me.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

Swinging strikeout.

[Wow!! 2-3 full count!! Choi Su-won boldly throws a decoy that takes a walk in a situation where ‘that’ is continuing!! Choi Su-won draws a swinging strikeout from Alex Verdugo!!]

[Great, good. There is a very famous saying that if you try to live by chance, you will die, and if you are determined to die, you will live. Choi Su-won is now showing those words in action.]

Luck follows.

A feeling that the will of the great universe, luck itself, is forcibly pushing my back.

Fluke.

So, in a slightly simpler word, it’s a *fluke*.

Bottom of the 7th, one out.

Trevor Story came to the plate.